When Bomke’s Patch first opened its doors in 2009, owner Cathy Bomke was elated to sell 100 Christmas trees. Last year, the family-run business sold close to 1,000.

“Years ago, when our children were young, we always wanted to go to a farm and cut our own tree down,” Cathy Bomke said. “We were never able to find fir trees and always ended up at a major store. So we decided to just start a farm ourselves.”

Bomke’s Patch sits on 13 acres of land just west of Springfield. With an average of 1,000 trees planted per acre, there are roughly 13,000 trees at any given time on the farm.

“It brings families together,” Cathy Bomke said. “We have people who come because it’s their tradition. They want to come and cut a tree down and they come as a family. They are happy and they enjoy it.”